


Tender is the night

by Royaltae



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Asheiji casually chatting about reincarnation in the middle of the night, M/M, One-Shot, With a teeny tiny bit of angst, asheiji teasing each other to no ends, damn that seems like ages ago, here's a fluffy asheiji fic, just 1k of them being cute and fluffy and sappy and gross, like microscopic, lots of fluff, pls ignore any mistakes, set during the time when they still live in the 5th avenue apartment, the final ep completely destroyed me so, they hit each other a lot playfully
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 13:59:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17122685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Royaltae/pseuds/Royaltae
Summary: He sees Eiji nodding to himself,like he’s proud of the work he has done. He smiles fondly at that,taking another sip from his mug,before asking:“If you were to be reborn,what do you wish to be?”Eiji blinks at him. “Where’s that coming from?”OrAsh and Eiji chats in the middle of the night on a window perch(set in 59th avenue apartment)





	Tender is the night

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in denial so here's another asheiji fic that can hopefully heal your wounded heart :,)

“Hey,”

Ash turns to the voice,and sees Eiji standing at the entrance of the room,holding mugs in each hand.

“Hey”

“Can’t sleep?”Eiji asks as he passes Ash his mug. Ash murmurs a soft ‘thank you’,accepting the mug gratefully. He peers into it: Hot chocolate.

He shakes his head. Tonight was not one of those nights—nights where he's afraid that he would startle awake in sweat and tears,horrid images from his nightmare throbbing within his mind. No. Tonight was just a night where he feels restless,bored out of his mind but not wanting to do anything. So he settles on the window perch,looking over quiet,resting New York.

He feels a tap on his knee and shifts in his spot to make some space for Eiji,knees now tucked closely to his chest. He feels Eiji’s eyes on him for awhile,before they were directed to somewhere else.

“What are you looking at?”

Ash hums,taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

“Nothing,” and it’s not a lie. His eyes are looking far out,but not really directed at anything. He’s seeing something,but not really. There are a few thoughts in his mind distracting him—none of them are specific,though. They are simply there,hazy and subtle,because he’s not allowing himself to concentrate on them. Not tonight. Hopefully never.

“You’re so weird”

Ash snorts,kicking gently at Eiji’s shin. “Says you”

Eiji makes an offended sound at that,”Says _you!_ You’re the one who likes mustard."

“Well,you’re the one who likes natto. Seriously,how can anyone possibly like that shit?”

He feels a slap on his knee.

“You just offended everyone who likes natto”

Ash rolls his eyes,”whatever”

He hears Eiji lets out a huff,and “ _no avocado and shrimp salad for breakfast tomorrow_ ”,before silence embraces them once again.

A certain cold breeze seeps through the gaps of the window,and Ash shivers,clutching onto the warm mug in his hands tighter. He tears his gaze away from the view to Eiji,briefly catching the action of the other shivering as well. He frowns a little.

“You should use the blanket to keep yourself warm. You look like you’re about to freeze.”

Eiji blinks at him. “Then what about you?”

“I’m fine”

“Nonsense,”Eiji deadpans as he gets up from his spot,grabbing the nearest blanket he could reach( _which was Ash’s_ ),and wrapping it around the both of them. Eiji adjusts the blanket a little here and there,so that the both of them would be equally covered with warmth.

He sees Eiji nodding to himself,like he’s proud of the work he has done. He smiles fondly at that,taking another sip from his mug,before asking:

“If you were to be reborn,what do you wish to be?”

Eiji blinks at him. “Where’s that coming from?”

Ash shrugs,”Just a thought” a thought indeed. A really random one at that. He doesn’t know what's gotten into him to be asking in the first place. Despite how out of the blue( _and stupid,really_ ) the question was though,he sees Eiji rubbing his chin,deep in thought.

“I’ve never really thought about that,”he says finally. “What about you,Ash?”

Ash hums in thought. Then,he laughs,”A rock.”

“And why is that so?”Eiji asks—even though Ash is sure he already knows the answer,stifling his own laughter behind the sleeve of his pajamas.

“So that I won’t have to do anything,just sit under the sun—or rain,whatever,watch the days go by without doing anything...and also,”he trails off,glancing at Eiji from the corner of his eyes. “I won’t have to deal with you and your disgusting natto”he finishes jokingly.

Eiji blows a raspberry at him and Ash chuckles,reaching over to give the other’s arm a gentle squeeze in apology. He smiles when he feels his hand being squeezed in return.

Ash takes another sip from his mug,frowning at it. It’s gone cold.

“I think I would want to be a human still,like maybe a veterinarian”

Ash looks back at Eiji,raising a brow. “You like animals?”

To be honest,he wasn’t all that surprised. Eiji did came off as someone who would most probably stop in his tracks to pat at some random stranger's pet.

“Yeah,I always wanted a dog when I was a kid but couldn’t. My parents are allergic.”

Ash sympathizes with Eiji immediately for the first part. He remembers begging Griffin to get him a dog once too—when they walked past a pet shop,with Ash tugging onto his older brother’s arm when he had locked eyes with a poodle.

“I get it,”he says,voice sounding wistful.

If Eiji notices,he doesn’t say anything—opting to give Ash’s arm another squeeze,this time in comfort.

“I think I want to be a bird,”he says suddenly,eyes turning back to the view. “I want to be able to do whatever I want with no worries and care for the world. Just flying around in the sky,see what else this world can possibly offer,”he swallows the lump in his throat. "With nothing holding me back,no one to stop me,I...I want to be free,"he turns to meet Eiji's eyes. "Like _you_."

Eiji’s gaze softens,”I'm not free Ash,no one really is."

"You flew,Eiji." He smiles at the memory—still raw and vivid even till now. He doesn't think he can ever forget that sight. "I saw it. Both skip and I did."

"That was once. I can't do it anymore."

"You still did."

"Then Ash,I'm sure you can do it too. You can fly. Be _free_."

Ash stares into Eiji's confident eyes and gives a thankful smile,closing his eyes in thought at the idea he was given. He hopes Eiji’s right. That would be nice. Really, _really_ nice.

He opens his eyes when he hears a stifled yawn,grinning.

"Oh? Is the old man getting sleepy?"he teases.

Eiji frowns at that,a light blush painting his cheeks.

"Shut up." He says,getting off the window perch to slap Ash's shoulder before collecting their mugs to place them on the night stand. Eiji picks up the blanket that has slipped off to the floor,tossing it back to Ash's bed.

"You should go to bed soon too,I'm getting tired of waking up a dead log in the morning."

Ash chuckles at that,heading over to his bed. "You can always just leave me alone."

"I can't do that," Eiji responds simply,turning to walk to his spot in the room,but he pauses halfway. "Ash do you,"he glances at him before looking away and then back at him again. "do you maybe want to,um,sleep together?On the same bed?"

Ash blinks at the suggestion,chest feeling warm at how considerate Eiji is. He truly doesn't deserve him. He shifts nearer towards the edge of the bed,patting the empty spot beside him,"Hop on."

Eiji smiles,climbing onto the bed and covering the both of them with the same blanket for the second time that night.

He switches off the table lamp,the dim light fading away for the darkness to swallow them both. He reaches hesitantly for Eiji's hand,only for his own hand to be grasped onto tightly midway.

"Goodnight,Ash"

He smiles,feeling the most relieved of all nights.

"Goodnight,Eiji"

 

 


End file.
